11 Days of Bowling, 12/30: Humanitarian and Holiday Bowls

Now just 1-2 for the feature, it’s starting to look like Frump’s crystal ball could use a bit of Windex, or something. Miami couldn’t take care of Wisconsin last night, but there’s a long way to go, and today we take our first shot at more than one prediction. Frump it here for quick looks at the Humanitarian and Holiday Bowls, 4:30 and 8:00 pm ET on ESPN, respectively.

There’s only one reason I decided to use this game today, and it has nothing to do with finding my first real edge/solid angle of Frumpzilla’s 11 Days of Bowling. Let’s face it, only two kinds of people have any more that a remote, passing interest in watching this football game. The first group are those with some type of intimate connection to either school (God bless ’em). The second are the degenerates that actually have something at stake in a game called the “Humanitarian Bowl”; pride, currency and/or reputation. I align myself with the latter, the degenerates, and I do so quite proudly.

The Vandals only have to travel about 300 miles south for this one, but then they don’t tend to fare too well in Boise, do they? At 7-5, the Falcons and Vandals have identical SU and ATS records this year, but how each team closed out the season couldn’t exhibit much more disparity. Idaho has dropped 4 of its last 6 SU and gone 1-5 ATS during that stretch. Meanwhile, Bowling Green has been a virtual mirror image, winning 5 of its last six SU, and well enough to cover the spread 5 of those 6, too.

That said, Idaho does happen to be an impressive 8-1 ATS in its last 9 non-conference games, but I think there’s something about that damn blue field in Boise that just gets their goat. I don’t expect the Falcons to pound the Vandals in Boise the way the Broncos typically do, but I’ll take +1 and the Bowling Green passing game against Idaho, and take it gladly. I like Tyler Sheehan and stat monster Freddie Barnes, who leads the NCAA in receptions and TD’s, and can break the season record for catches if he grabds 5 in a light snow today, to air mail the Vandals back to Moscow.

Holiday Bowl: Nebraska vs. Arizona. Current Line: Nebraska -3, O/U 41

And then we have the much more enticing game of the day, which features two of the nation’s best defenses, not to mention arguably the best player in the country, on either side of the ball, in Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh. Given that even the most casual of college football fans are likely aware by now that this Cornhusker is a monster, probably don’t need to elaborate too much him. Suh’s huge impact on the defensive front may only be matched by his stature, and I fully expect him to wreak havoc tonight.

To be fair, though, Arizona’s offensive line has been very good this year. The Wildcats’ OL ranks in the top 10 in the country, having only allowed 11 sacks on the year, which has certainly contributed to the solid play of towering Sophomore QB, Nick Foles. Read: Those of you that get as much out of monitoring the battles in the trenches as you do from watching where that oblong ball happens to go are probably in for a treat.

Given that the two offenses at work here tonight, to put it bluntly, are not good, I kinda like the Under here, especially considering the prowess of the two defenses. The Cornhuskers have hit been Under now in 10 of their last 13, and Arizona is Under in 5 of their last 6. Take the Under and enjoy a classic, old school defensive struggle. If you must bet the line, I like the fact that Nebraska is 8-3 ATS against their last 11 ranked opponents. As long as Nebraska gets the heartbreaking loss to Texas out of their system, expect the Wildcats to come down a bit after their big upset of USC to end the regular season.